Exclusive: Bavc Media has named the latest group of nonfiction filmmakers to take part in its prestigious documentary film fellowship program. The octet announced today will receive $10,000 each in “unrestricted funding, mentorship, industry access, feedback sessions, and workshops during an immersive 9-month experience.”
The Bavc MediaMaker Fellowship was established in 1991 to support emerging filmmakers and diverse projects. This year’s cohort includes Ademola (Ellas Vinieron de Las Nubes / They Came From the Clouds); Chelsi Bullard (Unfiltered); Caron Creighton (Wood Street); Julia Hunter (This is Me Loving You); Patrick G. Lee (Untitled Kqt Project); Ivan MacDonald (When They Were Here); Khai Thu Nguyen (The Full Thao), and Pallavi Somusetty (Coach Emily). [Scroll for more about the filmmakers and their projects].
The fellowship provides “two intensive convenings in San Francisco, a slate of virtual workshops throughout the year, and all-access travel to the International Documentary Association’s biennial Getting Real conference in Los Angeles and the Camden International Film Festival in midcoast Maine.
The Bavc MediaMaker Fellowship was established in 1991 to support emerging filmmakers and diverse projects. This year’s cohort includes Ademola (Ellas Vinieron de Las Nubes / They Came From the Clouds); Chelsi Bullard (Unfiltered); Caron Creighton (Wood Street); Julia Hunter (This is Me Loving You); Patrick G. Lee (Untitled Kqt Project); Ivan MacDonald (When They Were Here); Khai Thu Nguyen (The Full Thao), and Pallavi Somusetty (Coach Emily). [Scroll for more about the filmmakers and their projects].
The fellowship provides “two intensive convenings in San Francisco, a slate of virtual workshops throughout the year, and all-access travel to the International Documentary Association’s biennial Getting Real conference in Los Angeles and the Camden International Film Festival in midcoast Maine.
- 4/2/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Old Young Crow,” an American/Japanese short film directed by Liam LoPinto, took top honors at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, winning the Best of the Festival Award along with a cash prize of $5,000, the festival announced Sunday.
The win makes LoPinto’s film one of five at the festival that now qualify for the 2024 Academy Awards.
Other Oscars-qualifying short films from the Palm Springs ShortFest include: Lithuania’s “Way Better,” the Best Animated Short winner from director Skirmanta Jakaitė; China’s “Will You Look at Me,” director Shuli Huang’s Best Documentary Short winner; the French entry “Sèt Lam,” directed by Vincent Fontano, won Best Live Action Short over 15 minutes; and Spain’s “Mystic Tiger,” winner of Best Live Action Short under 15 minutes by director Marc Martínez.
The winners received a total of $25,000 in prizes in categories judged by industry luminaries, festival organizers and journalists. Read on for the complete list of winners.
The win makes LoPinto’s film one of five at the festival that now qualify for the 2024 Academy Awards.
Other Oscars-qualifying short films from the Palm Springs ShortFest include: Lithuania’s “Way Better,” the Best Animated Short winner from director Skirmanta Jakaitė; China’s “Will You Look at Me,” director Shuli Huang’s Best Documentary Short winner; the French entry “Sèt Lam,” directed by Vincent Fontano, won Best Live Action Short over 15 minutes; and Spain’s “Mystic Tiger,” winner of Best Live Action Short under 15 minutes by director Marc Martínez.
The winners received a total of $25,000 in prizes in categories judged by industry luminaries, festival organizers and journalists. Read on for the complete list of winners.
- 6/25/2023
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
The Award-winning PBS documentary series “Independent Lens” has released its spring slate of documentary films, which will begin debuting on April 24. This season’s films will highlight a myriad of marginalized communities and current affairs by documenting both personal and important stories from around the world.
First to debut is documentary film “Free Chol Soo Lee” from filmmakers Julie Ha and Eugene Yi. The Sundance favorite uses archival material to travel back to 1970’s San Francisco and tell the story of Chol Soo Lee, a Korean immigrant who was wrongfully convicted of murder, and the Asian American activist movement that sought to free him.
Following is Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green’s film “Matter of Mind: My Als”, which will premiere May 1. The documentary tells the story of three people in the U.S. living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Reed Harkness’s film “Sam Now” premieres May 8, and shares the...
First to debut is documentary film “Free Chol Soo Lee” from filmmakers Julie Ha and Eugene Yi. The Sundance favorite uses archival material to travel back to 1970’s San Francisco and tell the story of Chol Soo Lee, a Korean immigrant who was wrongfully convicted of murder, and the Asian American activist movement that sought to free him.
Following is Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green’s film “Matter of Mind: My Als”, which will premiere May 1. The documentary tells the story of three people in the U.S. living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Reed Harkness’s film “Sam Now” premieres May 8, and shares the...
- 3/30/2023
- by Sophia Scorziello
- Variety Film + TV
For the last few years, Sundance has had a strong record for premiering Asian titles that would overtake the film festival circuit. Asian diaspora and titles from Asia alike dominated the slate last year, with Indian documentary “All That Breathes” taking home the Grand Jury Prize in World Cinema Documentary; Christine Choy-starring “The Exiles” walking away with the Grand Jury Prize in US Documentary; and Kogonada’s quiet sci-fi “After Yang” winning the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. Other productions have made a splash on the circuit as well, like the Martika Ramirez Escobar’s stunning debut “Leonor Will Never Die” and Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s well-researched documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee.” The successes of the previous years have ramped up our own excitement for what is to come in 2023 — which will be, for the first time in the last 2 years, premiere in-person,...
- 12/11/2022
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Julie Ha and Eugene Yi's Free Chol Soo Lee is now showing exclusively on Mubi in many countries—including the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and Turkey—in the series Viewfinder.The seeds of this film were planted in December of 2014, at the funeral of Chol Soo Lee, though we didn’t know it at the time. One of the directors was there to write an obituary for a magazine, but she also wanted to comfort her longtime journalism mentor, K.W. Lee. It was his series of stories that had helped launch a landmark social movement to free Chol Soo Lee from prison 40 years earlier. K.W., who had become a father figure to Chol Soo, never expected to outlive him and was in terrible anguish.He was joined at the modest Buddhist funeral by a few dozen people; many of them were the activists who...
- 10/7/2022
- MUBI
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
’80s Horror
While the new release horror offerings are lacking this month, leave it to The Criterion Channel to deliver the ultimate series for the season. ’80s Horror features a great number of classics and underseen titles, including films by John Carpenter (Prince of Darkness), Tobe Hooper (The Funhouse), David Cronenberg (Scanners), Michael Mann (The Keep), and Paul Schrader (Cat People), along with Wolfen, The Slumber Party Massacre, Near Dark, Vampire’s Kiss, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, and many more. Get ready for some thrills.
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Atlantis (Ben Russell)
Piecing together a whirlpool of shimmering images from a trip to Malta, experimental filmmaker Ben Russell raises the fabled utopian city of Atlantis from the sea. Russell’s...
’80s Horror
While the new release horror offerings are lacking this month, leave it to The Criterion Channel to deliver the ultimate series for the season. ’80s Horror features a great number of classics and underseen titles, including films by John Carpenter (Prince of Darkness), Tobe Hooper (The Funhouse), David Cronenberg (Scanners), Michael Mann (The Keep), and Paul Schrader (Cat People), along with Wolfen, The Slumber Party Massacre, Near Dark, Vampire’s Kiss, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, and many more. Get ready for some thrills.
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Atlantis (Ben Russell)
Piecing together a whirlpool of shimmering images from a trip to Malta, experimental filmmaker Ben Russell raises the fabled utopian city of Atlantis from the sea. Russell’s...
- 10/7/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month and amongst the highlights are Martine Syms’ The African Desperate, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s Free Chol Soo Lee, Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Earwig, plus films from George A. Romero, Dario Argento, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Thomas Vinterberg, Nanni Moretti, and more.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
October 1 – Goodnight Mommy, directed by Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz | Thrills, Chills and Exquisite Horrors
October 2 – Van Gogh, directed by Maurice Pialat | I Don’t Like You Either: A Maurice Pialat Retrospective
October 3 – The Great Buster: A Celebration, directed by Peter Bogdanovich | Portrait of the Artist
October 4 – Invisible Demons, directed by Rahul Jain | Viewfinders
October 5 – Pulse, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Thrills, Chills and Exquisite Horrors
October 6 – Diary of the Dead, directed by George A. Romero | George A. Romero: Double of the Dead
October 7 – Free Chol Soo Lee, directed by Eugene Yi,...
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
October 1 – Goodnight Mommy, directed by Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz | Thrills, Chills and Exquisite Horrors
October 2 – Van Gogh, directed by Maurice Pialat | I Don’t Like You Either: A Maurice Pialat Retrospective
October 3 – The Great Buster: A Celebration, directed by Peter Bogdanovich | Portrait of the Artist
October 4 – Invisible Demons, directed by Rahul Jain | Viewfinders
October 5 – Pulse, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Thrills, Chills and Exquisite Horrors
October 6 – Diary of the Dead, directed by George A. Romero | George A. Romero: Double of the Dead
October 7 – Free Chol Soo Lee, directed by Eugene Yi,...
- 10/1/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
By Glenn Dunks
Whether he liked it or not (most certainly the former), Chol Soo Lee was a pivotal figure in the history of the Korean people within the United States—as well as for the broader Asian community. His name came to symbolise many things, most significantly the inherent racism of anybody who wasn't white that was found within the justice system. His story was a tragic one, struggling as he did to overcome the lasting effects of what happened to him. But his plight as a man wrongly jailed for a crime he didn’t commit brought Asian and Asian-American people together and to the political forefront in ways that meant things wouldn’t be the same ever again.
In Free Chol Soo Lee, Julia Ha and Eugene Yi’s quietly damning documentary about his life inside prison, we get to reflect on a case that many may...
Whether he liked it or not (most certainly the former), Chol Soo Lee was a pivotal figure in the history of the Korean people within the United States—as well as for the broader Asian community. His name came to symbolise many things, most significantly the inherent racism of anybody who wasn't white that was found within the justice system. His story was a tragic one, struggling as he did to overcome the lasting effects of what happened to him. But his plight as a man wrongly jailed for a crime he didn’t commit brought Asian and Asian-American people together and to the political forefront in ways that meant things wouldn’t be the same ever again.
In Free Chol Soo Lee, Julia Ha and Eugene Yi’s quietly damning documentary about his life inside prison, we get to reflect on a case that many may...
- 9/1/2022
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
In 1973 Chol Soo Lee, a 21-year-old Korean immigrant, was wrongfully incarcerated for the murder of a Chinatown gang leader. He became a symbol for systemic injustice against Asian Americans and spurred solidarity within his community. His prison memoirs have been adapted into a book and his case inspired the 1989 drama film “True Believer.” But his life — what happened before and after he became famous for his imprisonment — was far from a Hollywood fairy tale.
In the documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee,” first-time doc directors Julie Ha and Eugene Yi use archival materials in an attempt to present their tragic hero in all three dimensions. Despite their efforts, Soo Lee feels just out of reach, but the story of his life remains as important as it is horrifying.
The film opens by explaining the crime and how Soo Lee became a prime suspect. Journalistic giant K.W. Lee compared Soo Lee’s...
In the documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee,” first-time doc directors Julie Ha and Eugene Yi use archival materials in an attempt to present their tragic hero in all three dimensions. Despite their efforts, Soo Lee feels just out of reach, but the story of his life remains as important as it is horrifying.
The film opens by explaining the crime and how Soo Lee became a prime suspect. Journalistic giant K.W. Lee compared Soo Lee’s...
- 8/26/2022
- by Lena Wilson
- The Wrap
On the surface, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s Free Chol Soo Lee tells the story of an infamous wrongful conviction and its long cultural aftermath. If you recognize the name, you know the story. In Chinatown, San Francisco, in 1973, a man named Yip Yee Tak was gunned down on the corner of Pacific and Grant. A .38 Special was later found nearby. It would be linked to the Korean American 21-year-old Chol Soo Lee, who had only days earlier gotten the attention of the Sfpd after firing a gun in his hotel room.
- 8/22/2022
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
‘Orphan: First Kill’, ‘Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’ also out.
Entertainment Film Distributors’ seafaring sequel Fisherman’s Friends: One And All receives the widest opening of any title at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, starting in 645 locations.
Directed by Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft, One And All is a sequel to Chris Foggin’s Fisherman’s Friends, about 10 Cornish fisherman who gain a record deal with their album of sea shanties.
The sequel sees the group struggle with their second album after the highs of performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
Fisherman’s Friends opened to £1.2m from 506 locations in March...
Entertainment Film Distributors’ seafaring sequel Fisherman’s Friends: One And All receives the widest opening of any title at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, starting in 645 locations.
Directed by Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft, One And All is a sequel to Chris Foggin’s Fisherman’s Friends, about 10 Cornish fisherman who gain a record deal with their album of sea shanties.
The sequel sees the group struggle with their second album after the highs of performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
Fisherman’s Friends opened to £1.2m from 506 locations in March...
- 8/19/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Documentary tells the story of a Korean man unjustly jailed for a San Francisco gangland killing who was ruined by his time behind bars
This story of a miscarriage of justice is told with enormous sensitivity, intelligence and insight by documentary-makers Julie Ha and Eugene Yi. Their subject is Chol Soo Lee, who was falsely accused of murder in 1973 aged 20 and served 10 years in prison, four on death row. His case sparked a social justice movement that brought together long-haired hippy students, patent-leather-handbag carrying pensioners from California’s Korean churches and the wider Asian American community.
Lee was accused of killing Yip Yee Tak, a gang leader shot dead in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He was arrested after some spectacularly numbnuts copwork (officers initially described Lee as Chinese American; he was born in Korea). The whole of Chinatown seemed to know the police had the wrong man; nevertheless, Lee was...
This story of a miscarriage of justice is told with enormous sensitivity, intelligence and insight by documentary-makers Julie Ha and Eugene Yi. Their subject is Chol Soo Lee, who was falsely accused of murder in 1973 aged 20 and served 10 years in prison, four on death row. His case sparked a social justice movement that brought together long-haired hippy students, patent-leather-handbag carrying pensioners from California’s Korean churches and the wider Asian American community.
Lee was accused of killing Yip Yee Tak, a gang leader shot dead in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He was arrested after some spectacularly numbnuts copwork (officers initially described Lee as Chinese American; he was born in Korea). The whole of Chinatown seemed to know the police had the wrong man; nevertheless, Lee was...
- 8/16/2022
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
A cursory look at documentary producer Su Kim’s filmography presents an immediate contrast to the era of the blockbuster documentary. Her movies explore underrepresented experiences from the inside out, and present the ultimate antidote to the hodgepodge of high-profile portraits of celebrity and corruption that dominate the non-fiction market.
“I want to capture stories from the margins of power and insert them into into the mainstream,” she said in an interview with IndieWire this week, “to shed light on people who often fall through the cracks.” That may sound like lofty ambition, but it’s supported by the work.
In 2018, Kim was nominated for an Oscar on director Ramell Ross’ “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” an operatic immersion into the lives of a Black community in Alabama; 2019’s “Midnight Traveler” follows an Afghan director and his family on the lam from the Taliban through footage shot as they fled; “Bitterbrush,...
“I want to capture stories from the margins of power and insert them into into the mainstream,” she said in an interview with IndieWire this week, “to shed light on people who often fall through the cracks.” That may sound like lofty ambition, but it’s supported by the work.
In 2018, Kim was nominated for an Oscar on director Ramell Ross’ “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” an operatic immersion into the lives of a Black community in Alabama; 2019’s “Midnight Traveler” follows an Afghan director and his family on the lam from the Taliban through footage shot as they fled; “Bitterbrush,...
- 8/12/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The late Korean-American immigrant Chol Soo Lee never got the chance to narrate Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s clear-eyed documentary about his journey through the American justice system, but his voice rings through every moment of “Free Chol Soo Lee.” His own memoirs and letters to key compatriots frame the film, thanks to respectful and compelling narration from another former prisoner of Korean descent, Sebastian Yoon (you can find his story in the Netflix Ken Burns docuseries “College Behind Bars”).
, which follows Lee’s tragic life through many iterations. A tremendous miscarriage of justice led to him being incarcerated in 1973 for a murder he did not commit, and that story alone could support its own film. However, Ha and Yi also delve into Lee’s upbringing, the myriad ways systems let him down (from schools to assorted detention facilities), and his desire to find a place in the world as a confused young man.
, which follows Lee’s tragic life through many iterations. A tremendous miscarriage of justice led to him being incarcerated in 1973 for a murder he did not commit, and that story alone could support its own film. However, Ha and Yi also delve into Lee’s upbringing, the myriad ways systems let him down (from schools to assorted detention facilities), and his desire to find a place in the world as a confused young man.
- 8/10/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The 45th Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF45) will take place from August 3 – 13, and combines in-person screenings and events with online programs to make an exciting hybrid festival. The festival will kick off on August 3 with an exclusive in-person screening of its Opening Night film Free Chol Soo Lee, directed by Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, at the Asia Society and Museum, with a reception to follow.
Free Chol Soo Lee is a documentary which excavates the essential story of 1970s San Francisco, when 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee is racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. Sentenced to life, he spends years fighting to survive until investigative journalist K.W. Lee takes interest in his case, igniting an unprecedented social justice movement that would unite Asian Americans and inspire a new generation of activists.
“This film uplifts our deeper purpose of this year’s festival: to bring...
Free Chol Soo Lee is a documentary which excavates the essential story of 1970s San Francisco, when 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee is racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. Sentenced to life, he spends years fighting to survive until investigative journalist K.W. Lee takes interest in his case, igniting an unprecedented social justice movement that would unite Asian Americans and inspire a new generation of activists.
“This film uplifts our deeper purpose of this year’s festival: to bring...
- 7/22/2022
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
A premiere at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s documentary Free Chol Soo Lee examines the story of a 20-year-old Korean immigrant in 1970s San Francisco who was wrongly convicted of murder, and the unprecedented pan-Asian American movement that freed him. Picked up by Mubi, the acclaimed film will get a release on August 12 at the IFC Center in New York, followed by a special, one-night-only screening event in movie theaters nationwide on August 17th, then a larger rollout. Ahead of the release, the first trailer has now arrived.
John Fink said in his review, “Shedding light on the life of the Korean-American cause cél`èbe, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s Free Chol Soo Lee captures a unique moment in Asian American history and ultimately the story of a young man who may have never had a chance. Arriving in Chinatown, San Francisco in the early ’70s,...
John Fink said in his review, “Shedding light on the life of the Korean-American cause cél`èbe, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s Free Chol Soo Lee captures a unique moment in Asian American history and ultimately the story of a young man who may have never had a chance. Arriving in Chinatown, San Francisco in the early ’70s,...
- 7/20/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
As we know all too well, freedom and justice aren’t for all in America.
Sundance documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee” centers on the racial profiling and subsequent arrest of then 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee who was accused of a gang-related murder in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1973.
The documentary premieres August 12 at the IFC Center in New York City, followed by a special one-night-only simulcast screening event hosted by Mubi in over 180 theaters nationwide August 17 for the week that would’ve been Lee’s 70th birthday. After the special one-night-only event, “Free Chol Soo Lee” will continue to roll out to theaters across the country, including the Roxie Theater in San Francisco starting August 19, with Los Angeles and additional cities to come. IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer below.
As seen in the documentary, after a trial hinging on questionable accounts from white tourists, Lee is convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Sundance documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee” centers on the racial profiling and subsequent arrest of then 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee who was accused of a gang-related murder in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1973.
The documentary premieres August 12 at the IFC Center in New York City, followed by a special one-night-only simulcast screening event hosted by Mubi in over 180 theaters nationwide August 17 for the week that would’ve been Lee’s 70th birthday. After the special one-night-only event, “Free Chol Soo Lee” will continue to roll out to theaters across the country, including the Roxie Theater in San Francisco starting August 19, with Los Angeles and additional cities to come. IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer below.
As seen in the documentary, after a trial hinging on questionable accounts from white tourists, Lee is convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
- 7/20/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Kicking off this Thursday is one of the finest annual showcases in indie filmmaking, BAMcinemaFest, taking place at Bam Rose Cinemas. Among both well-curated highlights from recent festivals and world premieres, we’ve rounded up six essential features not to miss.
The festival also includes a number of notable new shorts, including Lynne Sachs’ Swerve (see our trailer premiere), Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck’s The Last Days of August, Rodney Evans’ Portal, and more. Check out our feature picks below and learn more here.
2nd Chance (Ramin Bahrani)
It’s an eerie image. Richard Davis stands out in a field, wearing a kevlar vest, and points a pistol into his belly. Then he pulls the trigger, skips back a bit, and checks his red-burned skin. Over the course of his life, he would do this—shoot himself—192 times, proving the efficacy of his life-saving device in the most visceral and operatic way possible.
The festival also includes a number of notable new shorts, including Lynne Sachs’ Swerve (see our trailer premiere), Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck’s The Last Days of August, Rodney Evans’ Portal, and more. Check out our feature picks below and learn more here.
2nd Chance (Ramin Bahrani)
It’s an eerie image. Richard Davis stands out in a field, wearing a kevlar vest, and points a pistol into his belly. Then he pulls the trigger, skips back a bit, and checks his red-burned skin. Over the course of his life, he would do this—shoot himself—192 times, proving the efficacy of his life-saving device in the most visceral and operatic way possible.
- 6/21/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Short Film
Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, Unhcr, the Un Refugee Agency has released “Uprooted,” a powerful short film featuring and made by Ukrainian refugees now living in Germany. The film shows loud noises – a door slamming, the sirens of an ambulance, the bangs of a firework display – and how they can trigger terrifying memories of war. Some 50 refugees from Ukraine, including writers, choreographers, designers, casting producers, styling assistants, set dressing, make up, music and all the talent featured in the film, were involved in the project.
“Uprooted”, released Monday on Unhcr’s social media platforms, is being shown in select cinemas across the U.K. It was directed by Stink Films’ Andzej Gavriss who wrote the concept with Ukrainian choreographer, Konstantin Koval and Don’t Panic London’s creative partner, Rick Dodds. Production took place in Berlin, Germany.
Unhcr spokesperson, Joung-Ah Ghedini-Williams said: “The Ukrainian refugee cast...
Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, Unhcr, the Un Refugee Agency has released “Uprooted,” a powerful short film featuring and made by Ukrainian refugees now living in Germany. The film shows loud noises – a door slamming, the sirens of an ambulance, the bangs of a firework display – and how they can trigger terrifying memories of war. Some 50 refugees from Ukraine, including writers, choreographers, designers, casting producers, styling assistants, set dressing, make up, music and all the talent featured in the film, were involved in the project.
“Uprooted”, released Monday on Unhcr’s social media platforms, is being shown in select cinemas across the U.K. It was directed by Stink Films’ Andzej Gavriss who wrote the concept with Ukrainian choreographer, Konstantin Koval and Don’t Panic London’s creative partner, Rick Dodds. Production took place in Berlin, Germany.
Unhcr spokesperson, Joung-Ah Ghedini-Williams said: “The Ukrainian refugee cast...
- 6/13/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
For those looking to experience the best that indie filmmaking has to offer, an eclectic NYC festival is now back in full force this month. After a consolidated, virtual edition last year, BAMcinemaFest is now returning for a complete, in-person edition taking place at Bam Rose Cinemas beginning June 23. Ahead of the launch, we’re pleased to exclusively debut the trailer.
With a lineup that opens with the award-winning Aftershock, and includes the Lily Gladstone-led The Unknown Country, Free Chol Soo Lee from Julie Ha & Eugene Yi, Tyler Taormina’s Happer’s Comet, and Ramin Bahrani’s 2nd Chance, and more, the trailer takes a playful look at this years’ offerings. Watch below and learn more here.
See the lineup below.
Thu, Jun 23 at 7pm: Aftershock
Fri, June 24 at 6:45pm: Cheee
Fri, June 24 at 9:30pm: Ferny & Luca
Sat, June 25 at 1:30pm: BAMcinemaFest Shorts Program 1
Sat, June...
With a lineup that opens with the award-winning Aftershock, and includes the Lily Gladstone-led The Unknown Country, Free Chol Soo Lee from Julie Ha & Eugene Yi, Tyler Taormina’s Happer’s Comet, and Ramin Bahrani’s 2nd Chance, and more, the trailer takes a playful look at this years’ offerings. Watch below and learn more here.
See the lineup below.
Thu, Jun 23 at 7pm: Aftershock
Fri, June 24 at 6:45pm: Cheee
Fri, June 24 at 9:30pm: Ferny & Luca
Sat, June 25 at 1:30pm: BAMcinemaFest Shorts Program 1
Sat, June...
- 6/7/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Utopia has picked up North American rights to “Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr.,” the feature docu that looks at the legacy of the influential 1990s band. A one-night only special theatrical release is set for May 31 ahead of a June 3 digital release.
A special New York premiere on May 28 will feature a Q&a and solo performance from the band’s J Mascis.
Directed by German filmmaker Philipp Reichenheim, who happens to be Mascis’ brother-in-law, the documentary features interviews with their contemporaries including Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and The Pixies, charting their story from the mid-80s to their 30th anniversary reunion concert.
Emma Thompson Hires a Sex Worker in ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ Trailer
Emma Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, a widow, who attempts to have proper sex for the first time in her life and hires a sex worker in the new trailer for “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.
A special New York premiere on May 28 will feature a Q&a and solo performance from the band’s J Mascis.
Directed by German filmmaker Philipp Reichenheim, who happens to be Mascis’ brother-in-law, the documentary features interviews with their contemporaries including Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and The Pixies, charting their story from the mid-80s to their 30th anniversary reunion concert.
Emma Thompson Hires a Sex Worker in ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ Trailer
Emma Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, a widow, who attempts to have proper sex for the first time in her life and hires a sex worker in the new trailer for “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.
- 5/18/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay and Carson Burton
- Variety Film + TV
Sundance Institute and Picturehouse have announced additions to the 2022 Sundance Film Festival: London programme today.
Alongside the twelve feature films, two short film strands and industry events previously announced, the festival will also present a new podcast strand with live audiences, including Girls on Film and Evolution of Horror; a 25th-anniversary screening of Love Jones, a special screening of Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave; and a screening of Janicza Bravo’s Lemon chosen by keynote speaker, producer Christine Vachon.
The Festival will open up the spirit of Sundance Film Festival to UK audiences by screening three films at upwards of 25 cinemas across the country. A Love Song, Free Chol Soo Lee and Good Luck To You, Leo Grande will screen alongside recorded Filmmaker Q&As during the festival dates of 9 to 12 June 2022.
For the first time ever, the festival will include an exciting programme of live podcast recordings within the line-up.
Alongside the twelve feature films, two short film strands and industry events previously announced, the festival will also present a new podcast strand with live audiences, including Girls on Film and Evolution of Horror; a 25th-anniversary screening of Love Jones, a special screening of Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave; and a screening of Janicza Bravo’s Lemon chosen by keynote speaker, producer Christine Vachon.
The Festival will open up the spirit of Sundance Film Festival to UK audiences by screening three films at upwards of 25 cinemas across the country. A Love Song, Free Chol Soo Lee and Good Luck To You, Leo Grande will screen alongside recorded Filmmaker Q&As during the festival dates of 9 to 12 June 2022.
For the first time ever, the festival will include an exciting programme of live podcast recordings within the line-up.
- 5/16/2022
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
One of the most well-curated festivals spotlighting indie filmmaking comes courtesy of Bam and their annual BAMcinemaFest, which takes place in person at Bam Rose Cinemas on June 23-30 this year. The lineup has now been announced, which includes some of our recent festival favorites: the Lily Gladstone-led The Unknown Country, Free Chol Soo Lee from Julie Ha & Eugene Yi, Tyler Taormina’s Happer’s Comet, and Ramin Bahrani’s 2nd Chance.
“I’m thrilled to have BAMcinemaFest back in person and to spotlight this incredible lineup of filmmakers,” said Jesse Trussell, festival programmer and senior programmer for film at Bam. “As we close in on a year since Bam Rose Cinemas reopened, it’s a joy to be able to gather and celebrate this art form as a collective experience.”
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Aftershock (2022) Dirs. Paula Eiselt & Tonya Lewis Lee. Shamony Gibson and...
“I’m thrilled to have BAMcinemaFest back in person and to spotlight this incredible lineup of filmmakers,” said Jesse Trussell, festival programmer and senior programmer for film at Bam. “As we close in on a year since Bam Rose Cinemas reopened, it’s a joy to be able to gather and celebrate this art form as a collective experience.”
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Aftershock (2022) Dirs. Paula Eiselt & Tonya Lewis Lee. Shamony Gibson and...
- 5/5/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Sundance Institute and Picturehouse have announced the programme of feature films, short films and panel discussions for the Sundance Film Festival: London 2022, taking place from 9 to 12 June at Picturehouse Central.
Presented in association with Adobe, the festival will present 12 feature films from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., selected for London by the Sundance Institute programming team in collaboration with Picturehouse.
Opening on 9 June with the UK premiere of Sophie Hyde’s ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’, the festival will close four days later on 12 June with the UK premiere screening of British filmmaker Jim Archer’s feature ‘Brian and Charles’, presented by Time Out. The feel-good comedy film stars British actor and comedian David Earl as Brian, a lonely and unlucky inventor who builds an artificial intelligence robot made from odds and ends, including an old washing machine.
The festival will feature an...
Presented in association with Adobe, the festival will present 12 feature films from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., selected for London by the Sundance Institute programming team in collaboration with Picturehouse.
Opening on 9 June with the UK premiere of Sophie Hyde’s ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’, the festival will close four days later on 12 June with the UK premiere screening of British filmmaker Jim Archer’s feature ‘Brian and Charles’, presented by Time Out. The feel-good comedy film stars British actor and comedian David Earl as Brian, a lonely and unlucky inventor who builds an artificial intelligence robot made from odds and ends, including an old washing machine.
The festival will feature an...
- 4/26/2022
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Festivals
The U.K. premiere of “Good Luck To You, Leo Grande,” directed by Sophie Hyde, will open this year’s Sundance London (June 9-12), with lead actors Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack in attendance. The festival will close with the U.K. premiere screening of Jim Archer’s “Brian and Charles,” starring actor and comedian David Earl.
In all, the festival will host several features chosen from the larger U.S. Sundance Film Festival. These include Adamma Ebo’s “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul”; Andrew Semans’ “Resurrection”; Max Walker-Silverman’s “A Love Song”; Lena Dunham’s “Sharp Stick”; Chloe Okuno’s “Watcher”; Sara Dosa’s “Fire of Love”; Ed Perkins’ “The Princess”; Joe Hunting’s “We Met in Virtual Reality”; Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s “Free Chol Soo Lee”; and Hanna Bergholm’s “Hatching.”
This year, the festival will feature an equal number of male and female directors across features and shorts.
The U.K. premiere of “Good Luck To You, Leo Grande,” directed by Sophie Hyde, will open this year’s Sundance London (June 9-12), with lead actors Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack in attendance. The festival will close with the U.K. premiere screening of Jim Archer’s “Brian and Charles,” starring actor and comedian David Earl.
In all, the festival will host several features chosen from the larger U.S. Sundance Film Festival. These include Adamma Ebo’s “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul”; Andrew Semans’ “Resurrection”; Max Walker-Silverman’s “A Love Song”; Lena Dunham’s “Sharp Stick”; Chloe Okuno’s “Watcher”; Sara Dosa’s “Fire of Love”; Ed Perkins’ “The Princess”; Joe Hunting’s “We Met in Virtual Reality”; Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s “Free Chol Soo Lee”; and Hanna Bergholm’s “Hatching.”
This year, the festival will feature an equal number of male and female directors across features and shorts.
- 4/25/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The line-up includes UK premieres of ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’ and Lena Dunham’s ‘Sharp Stick’.
The UK premiere of Good Luck To You, Leo Grande will open the 2022 Sundance Film Festival: London, with lead actors Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack both expected to attend.
The festival, which is running at Picturehouse Central from June 9-12, includes 12 feature films that premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, plus a surprise screening for a film that also bowed at this year’s festival.
Along with Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, titles selected for this year...
The UK premiere of Good Luck To You, Leo Grande will open the 2022 Sundance Film Festival: London, with lead actors Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack both expected to attend.
The festival, which is running at Picturehouse Central from June 9-12, includes 12 feature films that premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, plus a surprise screening for a film that also bowed at this year’s festival.
Along with Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, titles selected for this year...
- 4/25/2022
- by Melissa Kasule
- ScreenDaily
The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (Laapff), presented annually by Visual Communications (Vc), Southern California’s leading showcase for new Asian Pacific American and Asian international cinema, announced today the program for the 38th edition of the festival. The festival returns May 5th to 13th in Los Angeles and will feature an exciting lineup of in-person programming, along with virtual programming for our audiences at home in Southern California and beyond.
As Visual Communications premiere annual event, Laapff continues to build connections between peoples and generations through the amplification of Asian and Pacific Islander film, video, and media.The festival celebrates Asian Pacific American filmmakers and Asian international artists with profound, important and entertaining films and content from the new voices of cinema while honoring the legends and leaders who keep this cultural movement going forward. Important themes of representation, authorship, responsibility and ethics are at the forefront of content creation.
As Visual Communications premiere annual event, Laapff continues to build connections between peoples and generations through the amplification of Asian and Pacific Islander film, video, and media.The festival celebrates Asian Pacific American filmmakers and Asian international artists with profound, important and entertaining films and content from the new voices of cinema while honoring the legends and leaders who keep this cultural movement going forward. Important themes of representation, authorship, responsibility and ethics are at the forefront of content creation.
- 4/18/2022
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
In a 15+ film collection, Pacific Art Movement’s 11th San Diego Asian Film Festival (Sdaff) Spring Showcase returns to in-person programming at the Ultrastar Cinemas in Mission Valley, San Diego from April 21 through 28, 2022. This year’s showcase recognizes the impact of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islanders (Aapi) on popular culture. Audiences will enjoy eight days of films from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Vietnam including a four-film retrospective on director and actress Kinuyo Tanaka. The showcase opens with the biopic Anita on April 21 telling the captivating story of the “Madonna of Hong Kong”. Closing night features Free Chol Soo Lee which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this January. Other programming includes live Q&As from filmmakers and a panel discussion with the authors of Rise: A Pop History of Asian America From The Nineties To Now.
“Our 11th Spring Showcase marks more than just a return in-person for the Asian,...
“Our 11th Spring Showcase marks more than just a return in-person for the Asian,...
- 4/4/2022
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Xtr, the global nonfiction entertainment studio behind the Oscar-nominated documentary “Ascension,” has hired Abazar Khayami as head of studio.
Khayami, who previously served as head of content at Ntwrk, will oversee feature documentaries including development, production and execution and shepherd the dozens of films already in the company’s pipeline, the studio said Wednesday.
“We are thrilled that Abazar has come on to lead Xtr’s production studio during a moment of tremendous growth for the company,” said Kathryn Everett, Xtr co-founder and head of film. “We have a shared vision that draws on Abazar’s leadership and experience in the commercial and narrative worlds. With him at the helm, our production services team is going to be the best in the business.
“In my 15 years in the industry, I’ve never seen a bigger moment for nonfiction,” Khayami said in a statement shared with TheWrap. “Xtr shares my vision for a better documentary industry,...
Khayami, who previously served as head of content at Ntwrk, will oversee feature documentaries including development, production and execution and shepherd the dozens of films already in the company’s pipeline, the studio said Wednesday.
“We are thrilled that Abazar has come on to lead Xtr’s production studio during a moment of tremendous growth for the company,” said Kathryn Everett, Xtr co-founder and head of film. “We have a shared vision that draws on Abazar’s leadership and experience in the commercial and narrative worlds. With him at the helm, our production services team is going to be the best in the business.
“In my 15 years in the industry, I’ve never seen a bigger moment for nonfiction,” Khayami said in a statement shared with TheWrap. “Xtr shares my vision for a better documentary industry,...
- 2/9/2022
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
Fire of Love For the second year in a row, Sundance went online, canceling what was supposed to be a hybrid event to celebrate its 38th edition as a wholly virtual fare. Once again, the post-premiere debates and sense of community so cardinal to festivals were shunted to tweets, texts, and DMs—even as the fest, IndieWire’s Eric Kohn wrote a few days before kick-off, offered attendees a chance to whip up a digital avatar and socialize with other guests in 3D environments: “a microcosm of the way that the festival community has evolved in recent years.” For all the widespread fears around the pandemic’s impact on the industry, browsing through the usually overwhelming amount of reviews and dispatches one detects a careful optimism. “The decline in theatrical viewing for most movies may have a negative effect on the profitability of independents—and therefore on the ability to release them,...
- 2/1/2022
- MUBI
With nearly every feature film at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival reviewed, it’s time to wrap up the first major cinema event of the year. We already got the official jury and audience winners here, and now it’s time to highlight our favorites.
Our Sundance contributors have shared their top picks from the festival, also including a handful of shorts (with a more substantial shorts overview coming soon). Check out everything below and stay tuned to our site, and specifically Twitter, for acquisition and release date news on the below films in the coming months.
Mitchell Beaupre
1. Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford)
2. After Yang (kogonada)
3. Speak No Evil (Christian Tafdrup)
4. God’s Country (Julian Higgins)
5. A Love Song (Max Walker-Silverman)
6. Resurrection (Andrew Semans)
7. Nanny (Nikyatu Jusu)
8. Happening (Audrey Diwan)
9. Emergency (Carey Williams)
10. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (Sophie Hyde)
John Fink
1. The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier...
Our Sundance contributors have shared their top picks from the festival, also including a handful of shorts (with a more substantial shorts overview coming soon). Check out everything below and stay tuned to our site, and specifically Twitter, for acquisition and release date news on the below films in the coming months.
Mitchell Beaupre
1. Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford)
2. After Yang (kogonada)
3. Speak No Evil (Christian Tafdrup)
4. God’s Country (Julian Higgins)
5. A Love Song (Max Walker-Silverman)
6. Resurrection (Andrew Semans)
7. Nanny (Nikyatu Jusu)
8. Happening (Audrey Diwan)
9. Emergency (Carey Williams)
10. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (Sophie Hyde)
John Fink
1. The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier...
- 2/1/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Slow start has given way to steady flow of deals.
After a typically slow start over opening weekend Sundance 2022 deal-making gathered momentum throughout the week and Apple stole the headlines for the second year in a row with its $15m worldwide buy on Cooper Raiff’s coming-of-age title Cha Cha Real Smooth.
Searchlight Pictures announced a high-profile pre-buy for Fresh on the eve of the virtual festival and by the close of the first weekend National Geographic Documentary Films had swooped on documentaries Fire Of Love and The Territory.
Sony Pictures Classics acquired multiple territories on Bill Nighy drama Living...
After a typically slow start over opening weekend Sundance 2022 deal-making gathered momentum throughout the week and Apple stole the headlines for the second year in a row with its $15m worldwide buy on Cooper Raiff’s coming-of-age title Cha Cha Real Smooth.
Searchlight Pictures announced a high-profile pre-buy for Fresh on the eve of the virtual festival and by the close of the first weekend National Geographic Documentary Films had swooped on documentaries Fire Of Love and The Territory.
Sony Pictures Classics acquired multiple territories on Bill Nighy drama Living...
- 1/31/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Production company Mubi has acquired Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee” that premiered last week at Sundance, the company said in a release.
The film has been acquired for North America, UK, Ireland, Latin America, German, Austria, Italy and Turkey and will release theatrically in 2022 in the U.S., with plans for other regions coming later.
The documentary is about a movement in the 1970s in San Francisco, where a 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee gets racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. Lee is sentenced to life and fights to survive until a journalist takes up his case and ignites a social justice movement in the Asian American community. The film creates a portrait of the man at the center of this movement five decades later.
“Our team is overjoyed to be partnering with Mubi, who embrace and share our goal...
The film has been acquired for North America, UK, Ireland, Latin America, German, Austria, Italy and Turkey and will release theatrically in 2022 in the U.S., with plans for other regions coming later.
The documentary is about a movement in the 1970s in San Francisco, where a 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee gets racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. Lee is sentenced to life and fights to survive until a journalist takes up his case and ignites a social justice movement in the Asian American community. The film creates a portrait of the man at the center of this movement five decades later.
“Our team is overjoyed to be partnering with Mubi, who embrace and share our goal...
- 1/29/2022
- by Antoinette Siu
- The Wrap
The deals keep coming at the 2022 Virtual Sundance Film Festival. Mubi closed the docu Free Chol Soo Lee, including North America, and Warner Bros is negotiating a near $7 million WW rights deal for the Tig Notaro/Stephanie Allynne film Am I Ok? to place the film on HBO Max. The Lauren Pomerantz-scripted film stars Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jermaine Fowler, Molly Gordon, and Sean Hayes.
Am I Ok? premiered January 24 and played in the Premieres category. Lucy and Jane have been best friends for most of their lives and think they know everything there is to know about each other. But when Jane announces she’s moving to London, Lucy reveals a longheld secret. As Jane tries to help Lucy, their friendship is thrown into chaos. The film is produced by Stephanie Allynne, Ro Donnelly, Jessica Elbaum, Erik Feig and Will Ferrell, a coproduction between Gloria Sanchez Productions and Picturestart.
Am I Ok? premiered January 24 and played in the Premieres category. Lucy and Jane have been best friends for most of their lives and think they know everything there is to know about each other. But when Jane announces she’s moving to London, Lucy reveals a longheld secret. As Jane tries to help Lucy, their friendship is thrown into chaos. The film is produced by Stephanie Allynne, Ro Donnelly, Jessica Elbaum, Erik Feig and Will Ferrell, a coproduction between Gloria Sanchez Productions and Picturestart.
- 1/29/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
“Free Chol Soo Lee” has been acquired by global distributor, streamer and production company Mubi.
The documentary, which premiered last week at the Sundance Film Festival, will come to U.S. theaters in 2022, with release plans in other territories to be announced soon. News of the acquisition comes after the film’s producer Su Kim was presented with the Sundance Institute and Amazon Studios Producers Award for documentary features on Friday.
Directed by Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, “Free Chol Soo Lee” follows 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee, who, in 1970s San Francisco, was racially profiled, convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Investigative journalist K.W. Lee later dives into his case, igniting a powerful social justice movement that both unites Asian American communities and inspires activists in the coming generation.
“Our team is overjoyed to be partnering with Mubi, who embrace and share our goal of...
The documentary, which premiered last week at the Sundance Film Festival, will come to U.S. theaters in 2022, with release plans in other territories to be announced soon. News of the acquisition comes after the film’s producer Su Kim was presented with the Sundance Institute and Amazon Studios Producers Award for documentary features on Friday.
Directed by Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, “Free Chol Soo Lee” follows 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee, who, in 1970s San Francisco, was racially profiled, convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Investigative journalist K.W. Lee later dives into his case, igniting a powerful social justice movement that both unites Asian American communities and inspires activists in the coming generation.
“Our team is overjoyed to be partnering with Mubi, who embrace and share our goal of...
- 1/29/2022
- by Wyatte Grantham-Philips
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix takes Sundance doc ‘Descendant’, Warner Bros/HBO Max, Showtime, Mubi also in action (update)
Festival runs through January 30.
Updated January 29: Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Participant’s Sundance documentary Descendant on Friday (28), which Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground will present alongside the streamer.
Showtime Documentary Films moved on Ramin Bahrani’s Sundance Premieres entry 2nd Chance and on Saturday Warner Bros and HBO Max took worldwide rights to Dakota Johnson drama Am I Ok? and Mubi picked up Free Choi Soo Lee.
Margaret Brown’s Descendant premiered in U.S. Documentary Competition and follows members of Africatown, a small community in Alabama, as they share their personal stories and community...
Updated January 29: Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Participant’s Sundance documentary Descendant on Friday (28), which Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground will present alongside the streamer.
Showtime Documentary Films moved on Ramin Bahrani’s Sundance Premieres entry 2nd Chance and on Saturday Warner Bros and HBO Max took worldwide rights to Dakota Johnson drama Am I Ok? and Mubi picked up Free Choi Soo Lee.
Margaret Brown’s Descendant premiered in U.S. Documentary Competition and follows members of Africatown, a small community in Alabama, as they share their personal stories and community...
- 1/29/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Those who knew Chol Soo Lee, or saw his image printed on the posters, stickers, and t-shirts of the 1970s Pan-Asian American movement to release him from jail, often remarked on his stunning beauty. “What a good-looking kid. I mean real good-looking kid,” chirps investigative reporter K.W. Lee, recalling their first encounter at San Quentin Prison in Free Chol Soo Lee, a new Sundance documentary that tells the story of a young man falsely convicted of murder, the symbol he became, and the activists who rallied for both. Later in the film, investigative reporter, Josiah “Tink” Thompson, asks the witness […]
The post “Even in Asian American Progressive Circles, People Have Not Heard This Story”: Eugene Yi and Julie Ha on Their Sundance-Premiering Documentary, Free Chol Soo Lee first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Even in Asian American Progressive Circles, People Have Not Heard This Story”: Eugene Yi and Julie Ha on Their Sundance-Premiering Documentary, Free Chol Soo Lee first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2022
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Those who knew Chol Soo Lee, or saw his image printed on the posters, stickers, and t-shirts of the 1970s Pan-Asian American movement to release him from jail, often remarked on his stunning beauty. “What a good-looking kid. I mean real good-looking kid,” chirps investigative reporter K.W. Lee, recalling their first encounter at San Quentin Prison in Free Chol Soo Lee, a new Sundance documentary that tells the story of a young man falsely convicted of murder, the symbol he became, and the activists who rallied for both. Later in the film, investigative reporter, Josiah “Tink” Thompson, asks the witness […]
The post “Even in Asian American Progressive Circles, People Have Not Heard This Story”: Eugene Yi and Julie Ha on Their Sundance-Premiering Documentary, Free Chol Soo Lee first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Even in Asian American Progressive Circles, People Have Not Heard This Story”: Eugene Yi and Julie Ha on Their Sundance-Premiering Documentary, Free Chol Soo Lee first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2022
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Shedding light on the life of the Korean-American cause cél`èbe, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s Free Chol Soo Lee captures a unique moment in Asian American history and ultimately the story of a young man who may have never had a chance. Arriving in Chinatown, San Francisco in the early ’70s, Chol Soo Lee worked odd jobs, among them barker for the local strip clubs. One day his manager shows him a gun that he borrows for no reason at all, leading to an accidental discharge in the bedroom of the flop house he’s occupied. Five days later he’s arrested for murder after a random killing is committed on the street, before a hundred witnesses, with the same type of gun he’d been playing with.
Tried and ultimately sent to prison for a murder he didn’t commit, Lee finds himself in over his head.
Tried and ultimately sent to prison for a murder he didn’t commit, Lee finds himself in over his head.
- 1/25/2022
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
This year at the Sundance Film Festival, three feature documentaries — Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee’s “Aftershock,” Reid Davenport’s “I Didn’t See You There” and Isabel Castro’s “Mija” — share in common a $10,000 grant provided by the Points North Institute and CNN Films’ American Stories Documentary Fund.
Launched in 2020, the fund underwritten by CNN has dispensed a total of $100,000 in grants to emerging U.S. filmmakers working on 10 documentary projects that highlight pivotal moments in America. Eiselt and Lewis Lee’s “Aftershock,” and Davenport’s “I Didn’t See You There” are two of nine films in the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition program, while Castro’s “Mija” is featured in the festival’s Next program. “Aftershock” addresses the U.S. maternal health crisis, “I Didn’t See You There” examines the discrimination people with disabilities face throughout the country, and “Mija” explores America’s immigration issues via music manager Doris Muñoz.
Launched in 2020, the fund underwritten by CNN has dispensed a total of $100,000 in grants to emerging U.S. filmmakers working on 10 documentary projects that highlight pivotal moments in America. Eiselt and Lewis Lee’s “Aftershock,” and Davenport’s “I Didn’t See You There” are two of nine films in the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition program, while Castro’s “Mija” is featured in the festival’s Next program. “Aftershock” addresses the U.S. maternal health crisis, “I Didn’t See You There” examines the discrimination people with disabilities face throughout the country, and “Mija” explores America’s immigration issues via music manager Doris Muñoz.
- 1/25/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
“Free Chol Soo Lee” charts the complicated history of a wrongful-conviction victim who became a figurehead for both Asian-American and prisoners’-rights activists in the 1970s and beyond. Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s film benefits from ample archival material, as well as latter-day input from surviving interviewees. Even so, it’s a tale ultimately more sad than inspiring, because Lee’s case embodies the odds stacked against even an exoneree adjusting successfully to civilian life after debilitating years in “the system.” With its focus on a fairly recent if little-remembered U.S. historical chapter and surrounding community activism, this involving documentary seems a natural fit for PBS and equivalent broadcast outlets.
Lee was born in Seoul in 1952, his mother moving alone to the U.S. soon thereafter, having been ostracized by her family for falling pregnant out of wedlock. (It is suggested that she was raped.) Fourteen years later she returned to retrieve him,...
Lee was born in Seoul in 1952, his mother moving alone to the U.S. soon thereafter, having been ostracized by her family for falling pregnant out of wedlock. (It is suggested that she was raped.) Fourteen years later she returned to retrieve him,...
- 1/22/2022
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Earlier, Sundance announced that its 2022 edition will be hybrid. Most titles will be available online while their in-person festivities start up again in Park City. Their main slate has just gone live as well. Though the festival has a tendency to update their lineup as the festivities grow closer, their competition categories have at least been set in stone.
Naturally, we compiled all of the Asian and Asian diaspora-directed ones we could find so far. Like last year, most Asian titles tend to be in the documentaries. In the World Cinema Documentary Competition, at least 4 entries span from different corners of the continent: India (“All That Breathes”), Myanmar (“Midwives”), Lebanon (“Sirens”), and Israel (“Tantura”). 4 entries revolving around or by Asian diaspora filmmakers make their mark in the US Documentary Competition as well. “Free Chol Soo Lee”, “Jihad Rehab”, “Tiktok.Boom” and “The Exiles” cover fex-Al-Queda extremists, Tiananmen Square exiles, a wrongly-convicted Korean immigrant,...
Naturally, we compiled all of the Asian and Asian diaspora-directed ones we could find so far. Like last year, most Asian titles tend to be in the documentaries. In the World Cinema Documentary Competition, at least 4 entries span from different corners of the continent: India (“All That Breathes”), Myanmar (“Midwives”), Lebanon (“Sirens”), and Israel (“Tantura”). 4 entries revolving around or by Asian diaspora filmmakers make their mark in the US Documentary Competition as well. “Free Chol Soo Lee”, “Jihad Rehab”, “Tiktok.Boom” and “The Exiles” cover fex-Al-Queda extremists, Tiananmen Square exiles, a wrongly-convicted Korean immigrant,...
- 12/16/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Exclusive: Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy Of Detroit, directed by Sam Katz and James McGovern, swept the 2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, a three-year-old documentary award that carries a finishing grant of $200,000.
The winning entry explores the decline of the American manufacturing city culminating in the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2013 and its aftermath.
Directors of runner-up Free Chol Soo Lee, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, will receive $50,000 for their story of a Korean immigrant wrongly convicted of a Chinatown gang murder in San Francisco in 1973. Four finalists will be awarded $25,000 apiece.
Filmmakers from Ken Burns’ production company Florentine Films and staff from the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center — the Library’s moving image and recorded sound preservation facility – selected the six entries from a flurry of initial submissions of late-stage American history documentaries. That was winnowed to two by a national jury including filmmakers Sam Pollard,...
The winning entry explores the decline of the American manufacturing city culminating in the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2013 and its aftermath.
Directors of runner-up Free Chol Soo Lee, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, will receive $50,000 for their story of a Korean immigrant wrongly convicted of a Chinatown gang murder in San Francisco in 1973. Four finalists will be awarded $25,000 apiece.
Filmmakers from Ken Burns’ production company Florentine Films and staff from the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center — the Library’s moving image and recorded sound preservation facility – selected the six entries from a flurry of initial submissions of late-stage American history documentaries. That was winnowed to two by a national jury including filmmakers Sam Pollard,...
- 10/26/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Six documentary films remain in the running for the third annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, the richest award in nonfiction filmmaking.
The Better Angels Society, “a non-profit dedicated to the exploration of American history through documentary film,” announced the six finalists Tuesday [full list below]. The winning filmmaker, to be revealed at an October 26 virtual ceremony, will receive a $200,000 grant “to finish the in-production film and to help with outreach and marketing.” Per the organization, the runner-up will receive a $50,000 grant, and up to four finalists will each receive a $25,000 grant.
“In spite of the pandemic which heavily impacted the arts and entertainment industry, a wide array of late-stage professional American history documentary films were submitted for consideration this year,” The Better Angels Society noted in a statement. “An internal committee consisting of filmmakers from Florentine Films [Ken Burns’ company] and expert staff from the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, the Library...
The Better Angels Society, “a non-profit dedicated to the exploration of American history through documentary film,” announced the six finalists Tuesday [full list below]. The winning filmmaker, to be revealed at an October 26 virtual ceremony, will receive a $200,000 grant “to finish the in-production film and to help with outreach and marketing.” Per the organization, the runner-up will receive a $50,000 grant, and up to four finalists will each receive a $25,000 grant.
“In spite of the pandemic which heavily impacted the arts and entertainment industry, a wide array of late-stage professional American history documentary films were submitted for consideration this year,” The Better Angels Society noted in a statement. “An internal committee consisting of filmmakers from Florentine Films [Ken Burns’ company] and expert staff from the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, the Library...
- 8/25/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The Independent Filmmaker Project on Thursday unveiled 26 feature and series projects set to participate in the indie organization’s three annual yearlong Ifp Filmmaker fellowship programs for first-time filmmakers: The Ifp Filmmaker Labs’ Documentary Lab, Narrative Lab and Episodic Lab.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, all will take place virtually, with the Documentary Lab now underway and running through Friday. The Episodic Lab, for series projects in development for TV and digital platforms from new creators, will run June 1-5, and the Narrative Lab, for feature films by directors currently in post-production on their debut features, is set for June 15-19.
The Narrative Lab supports fellows through the completion, marketing, and distribution of their debut features, providing support from staff and mentorship from leading filmmakers. The Episodic Lab provides knowledge, resources and mentor support necessary in writing pitches and creating development strategies.
All 2020 projects will participate in...
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, all will take place virtually, with the Documentary Lab now underway and running through Friday. The Episodic Lab, for series projects in development for TV and digital platforms from new creators, will run June 1-5, and the Narrative Lab, for feature films by directors currently in post-production on their debut features, is set for June 15-19.
The Narrative Lab supports fellows through the completion, marketing, and distribution of their debut features, providing support from staff and mentorship from leading filmmakers. The Episodic Lab provides knowledge, resources and mentor support necessary in writing pitches and creating development strategies.
All 2020 projects will participate in...
- 5/21/2020
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Every week, IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit rounds up the latest in opportunities that can help those looking to advance projects or get a career started in the film industry. The following grants, labs, fellowships, contests and other non-profit opportunities could be a great way to help kickstart your movie and TV dreams.
New Opportunities & Upcoming Deadlines
NBC’s Writers on the Verge
– NBCUniversal’s Writers on the Verge 12-week program focuses on polishing and preparing television writers for a staff writer position on a television series. Writers who are “almost there” but need assistance with their final bit of preparation with their writing and personal presentation skills are encouraged to apply. The program consists of two night classes, which will typically be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 – 10 Pm weekly at NBCUniversal in Universal City, CA. Once accepted, students must attend all classes and turn in all written assignments.
Past...
New Opportunities & Upcoming Deadlines
NBC’s Writers on the Verge
– NBCUniversal’s Writers on the Verge 12-week program focuses on polishing and preparing television writers for a staff writer position on a television series. Writers who are “almost there” but need assistance with their final bit of preparation with their writing and personal presentation skills are encouraged to apply. The program consists of two night classes, which will typically be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 – 10 Pm weekly at NBCUniversal in Universal City, CA. Once accepted, students must attend all classes and turn in all written assignments.
Past...
- 3/24/2017
- by Allison Picurro and Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
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